culture
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Michelle Obama Through the Years
In honor of first lady Michelle Obama’s 50th birthday—she’ll be celebrating it at a White House bash this Saturday—The Root decided to take a look back at her early years. Michelle LaVaughn Robinson was born on Jan. 17, 1964, in Chicago. She was a student at Bryn Mawr Elementary School. Here she is at Princeton…
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A Single Dad Sees Race Through His Children’s Eyes
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal sits down with David Ikard to discuss Ikard’s new book, Blinded by the Whites: Why Race Still Matters in the 21st Century. Ikard is a visiting associate professor at the University of Miami. Watch the interview:
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‘What Would MLK Think?’ We Don’t Know, So Let’s Stop Asking
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is coming up, and you know what that means: lots of talk about who has to go to work and who doesn’t. Plentiful “I Have a Dream” recitations. An annual reminder to elementary school kids across the country that it’s not nice at all to judge people based on the…
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Deaf Man Allegedly Beaten by Police for Not Obeying Orders He Couldn’t Hear
An Oklahoma City resident is claiming that Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers beat him for disobeying their orders. The only problem is that 64-year-old Pearl Pearson is deaf—a fact that he says a sign in his car indicates. According to Fox 4 News, Pearson allegedly fled the scene of a car accident before being pulled over…
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Internal Investigation Opened in Chris Brown Case
Washington, D.C., police have opened an internal-affairs investigation into conflicting claims surrounding statements made by an officer who responded to the call that singer Chris Brown assaulted a man outside a Washington hotel, the Associated Press reports. The probe centers on an alleged conversation between the officer and an unidentified acquaintance of Brown’s. According to…
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12 Years a Slave Sweeps Up 9 Oscar Nominations
The Oscar nominations were announced today, and while Hollywood favorites American Hustle and Gravity dominated the field with 10 nominations each, including best picture and best director, 12 Years a Slave was running right on their heels with nine nominations. The critically acclaimed historical film was nominated in five of the major categories: best picture,…
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NAACP Report: Diversity at Banks as Bad as at SNL
Although more people of color than ever are graduating with degrees in accounting and finance, equal opportunity in the banking industry is far from a dream realized, a new report by the NAACP (pdf) has found. The report, which was released on Tuesday, shows that the nation’s five largest banks (Bank of America, Citibank, JP…
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Writer Slammed on Oprah Signs New Book Deal
James Frey, the author of the discredited memoir A Million Little Pieces, has signed a multibook, multimedia deal with HarperCollins for a young-adult series called Endgame, the Associated Press reports. Frey’s memoir was first promoted by Oprah Winfrey on her show but later heavily criticized on the program after it was discovered that huge portions…
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Witness: Kanye West Hit Teen More Than 30 Times
On Monday, TMZ reported that Kim Kardashian and her fiance, Kanye West, were involved in an altercation with a teenager at a medical office in Beverly Hills, Calif. Now new details have emerged, claiming that West came to Kardashian’s defense meaning business. According to TMZ, the rapper walked into the medical-office waiting room, saw the…
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Notable Members of Zeta Phi Beta
On Jan. 16, 1920, five women founded Zeta Phi Beta Sorority at Howard University. In honor of the organization’s 94th anniversary, we’ve gathered a list of some of its most notable members. 1. Zora Neale Hurston Alpha chapter Author 2. Sheryl Underwood Zeta Tau Zeta chapter Comedian, 23rd International president of Zeta Phi Beta 3.…